(TibetanReview.net, Apr20, 2014) – Seeing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a fraternity of anti-democratic forces, China on Apr 17 urged Russia and Central Asian partners in their six-nation security alliance to tighten control over the Internet and take other steps to prevent “external forces” from fomenting revolutions. The call was made by Chinese Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun at a meeting with his counterparts from the SCO, reported Reuters Apr 18.

The alliance comprises Russia and China and the Central Asian former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“External forces are using the social-economic contradictions and problems … to overthrow the authorities and are trying to provoke a new wave of colour revolutions,” Guo was quoted as saying. “Colour revolution,” the report added, is the Russian term for the street protests that had brought down leaders in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in the past decade. Guo has called this a shared concern of the SCO member states.

Speaking in Dushanbe, Guo has called on member states to come up with measures “to counteract interference in internal affairs from abroad, strengthen management of non-government organisations and control over social networks in order to discover, analyse, counter and regulate factors of uncertainty and avoid repeats of colour revolution scenarios.”